As if the most recent USDA food insecurity numbers weren’t compelling enough, The Food and Research Action Center (FRAC) recently released their Food Hardship report.  Based on a Gallup Poll, it has food hardship – yes, hunger – data for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, and every Congressional district.  Nationally, about 18.5% of Americans reported not having enough money to purchase enough food for their family at the end of 2009, up from 16.3% at the beginning of 2008.  In households with children under 18, the likeliness of experiencing food hardship was 1.62 times more than a household without children (24% to 15%), further confirming the fact that children are among our most food insecure.

Drilling down to Congressional district, those of us lucky enough to live in Henry Waxman’s district, where The Jewish Federation is headquartered, we only have a food hardship rate of 8.3%, one of the lowest in the nation (427^th out of 435 total congressional districts).  However, if you move a little to the east, south and north, the food hardship rates skyrocket.  It is 28.3% in Xavier Becerra’s district, 22.9% in Maxine Waters’ district, and 23.2% in Buck McKeon’s district (ranked 16^th, 70^th and 65^th in the nation, respectively).  Not only are hunger and food insecurity literally in our own backyard, they also surround us in our neighboring communities at alarming rates. 

Though it may seem daunting, the things you do can go a long way to help end hunger.  Here are five things you can do today, tomorrow, or this weekend that will have an immediate effect on hunger and food insecurity in our communities:

1. Volunteer:  There are plenty of great anti-hunger organizations in Los Angeles that need your help to cook, distribute, organize, receive, and sort food.  Our list of local anti-hunger organizations is by no means exhaustive but provides a good list to get started if you are interested in volunteering.  The volunteer corps for many of those organizations is graying and many of them need an influx of younger volunteers to sustain their activities. 
2. Donate:  Local anti-hunger groups need money to continue providing emergency food services.  You can donate directly by contacting the list above or you can consider making a micro-donation to Fed Up with Hunger by clicking here.      
3. Plant a food garden: The demand for fresh foods at local food banks and pantries is growing.  By planting a food garden and donating your harvest to local food banks and pantries, you will be increasing the supply of nutritious, fresh foods in the emergency food system (to say nothing about helping to green LA).  If you don’t think your little garden (or apartment box garden) can help, keep in mind that for every $1 invested in a food garden yields $6 in produce.  Furthermore, during World War II, 40% of our vegetables were grown in backyard gardens.    
4. Glean: We are surrounded by a bounty of nutritious food.  By joining gleaning organizations like Food Forward and other organizations who have partnerships with local farms and restaurants, you can further help increase the amount of fresh, nutritious food in the emergency food system.   
5. Advocate: The key to ending hunger lies in creating the political will in our elected officials to do so.  Sign a petition to call on Congress to support creating access to healthy foods, write a letter to your legislator and tell them you support a strong Childhood Nutrition Reauthorization Act, and tell your friends to join the movement.  Our elected officials will have no choice than to listen to us if we all declare, in one righteous voice, that we are all Fed Up with Hunger.

Aaren Alpert is Fed Up With Hunger’s in-house youth outreach pro .  When Aaren heard that the United Synagogue Youth, or USY, needed social action programming for their Valley Beth Shalom weekend teen retreat, she got to work.  Let me tell you something about Aaren– she’s serious when it comes to youth programming.  Not only is she armed with years of personal and professional experience, but her mother is the legendary Merrill Alpert, youth programming maven of Far West United Synagogue Youth.  In other words, this sort of stuff is literally in her blood.  Teaming up with VBS’ Rabbi Noah Farkas and youth directors Alison Bluestein and Tiffany Kosloy, Aaren put her know how to good use and set up a whole Fed Up With Hunger themed weekend!

On Saturday morning, the USY Fed Up With Hunger extravaganza kicked off with over 100 USY’ers crowded into the Valley Beth Shalom youth lounge for a Fed Up With Hunger Banquet.  The Fed Up With Hunger Banquet is a scripted meal conducted a lot like a Passover Seder, but, instead of telling the story of the Israelites flight from Egypt, the banquet explores the character of food insecurity in the world at large and our own communities.   The USY’ers were challenged as the more economically fortunate to realize how difficult it is for needy individuals and families to afford fresh, healthful food.  We were really impressed with the lively extended conversation the banquet provoked, especially considering the banquet was holding up their lunch!

After taking a break on Saturday for Shabbat and the obligatory DJ’ed dance, the USY’ers got back to it on Sunday morning with a workshop which had them budget for a week’s worth of groceries on a food insecure household’s income.  Even with food stamps, soup kitchens and food pantries to rely on, the USY’ers realized that eating healthfully on a strapped food budget is nearly impossible.  The numbers are demoralizing: the price differential between a nutritionally poor and healthful diet amounts to several hundred dollars per week for a family of four.  The workshop is frustrating by design, as the point is to demonstrate how the food insecure eat poorly as a matter of necessity.

Once the USY’ers were sufficiently fed up with hunger (we can’t resist that pun around here), they rolled up their sleeves and got hands on with their Tikkun Olam.  They split up into groups and worked on a bevy of different projects: potato boxes planters for VBS’ community garden were built, lasagnas were made for a local homeless shelter, food was sorted for the VBS food pantry and nearly one hundred pounds of food donations were collected from Ralph’s.  Some of the more theatrically inclined USY’ers put together video PSA’s about hunger to post on their Facebook pages and other social media.  All in all, were completely impressed by the enthusiastic response we got.  The USY’ers learned about hunger, they took action against hunger and they made the fight to end hunger their own.

After the program was over, we asked Adam Braun, one of the USY teen leaders responsible for running the kinnus, how the weekend impacted him.  He said that “For me, it was an experience to be treasured and it has inspired me to take future action because I know that, even though I may just be one adolescent teenager, I can make a difference.”  That’s right Adam- you can!  And together, we can do so much more.  Thank you USY for taking a stand against hunger in Los Angeles!

(excerpted from Daily Dish/LATimes)

Filmmakers Lori Silverbush and Kristi Jacobson are currently in production on the film “Hungry in America,” exploring why so many people in our country go without food, and what can be done about it. The film is co-produced by Silverbush’s husband, “Top Chef” judge Tom Colicchio, along with another well-known culinary superstar, Mario Batali.

“In a country as wealthy as ours, it’s amazing that so many people are going without. Forty-nine million people experience hunger in this nation, 17 million of which are children,” Silverbush asserts.

Read the article >>

Find out what other celeb chefs are doing to fight hunger.

Cooking classes can be great fun, but they can also deliver the occasional moment of utter horror. It’s not the part where you butcher a chicken by yourself, though that isn’t exactly good times. It’s not the array of very sharp knives either. No, it’s the way that passionate amateur cooks and professional chefs are encouraged to toss any element of a meal that isn’t utterly perfect. Sure, aspiring star restaurateurs are also drilled about the merits of food economy — saving precious dollars by using everything you can in the kitchen — but if a piece of cauliflower is a bit too charred or a meat dish just a touch over-dry, eh, c’est la vie, out it goes.

I felt the same horror over the recent winter holidays. Mom made the traditional turkey, but she tossed the giblets. I was shocked; you can make and freeze a terrific turkey stock out of those giblets with very little effort. And it’s a great payoff. Freeze your rich turkey stock, save it for a cold, rainy day. When you need it, thaw the stock, add a little corn or carrot, a bit of leftover chicken or turkey, a handful of pasta or matzoh meal, et voila, a hot soup and a perfect cure for stubborn cold.

Wasting food always triggers a feeling of shock in me, no matter how small the loss. It reminds me, every time, that there are hungry people in my own town who could use that over-caramelized cauliflower or slightly dry roasted meat. Now, I hear that I’m not alone. I’ve learned there are many star chefs — perfectionists all — who, nonetheless have taken up the cause of hunger. Their cauliflower may be a perfect golden brown, but their cash is going toward assuring that no one goes without a nutritious meal, here or elsewhere.

Here are some examples of rockstar chefs who are taking on hunger:

* The chefs who participated in the The 27th Wine and Food Festival back in October — major food innovators like Thomas Keller of French Laundry — didn’t just share their talents with local foodies. The event benefitted LA Meals on Wheels, which, over the years, has received an estimated $15 million from its affiliation with the festival.

*   Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio may come off as tough, but he’s got a serious charitable streak, especially when it comes to hunger in America.

*   Jar restaurant’s Suzanne Tracht won her preliminary round of Top Chef Masters, assigning $10,000 for JFS/SOVA, which feeds thousands of needy men, women and children every month. Tracht has also raised money for SOVA through Jar itself, with a $500 per-plate dinner.

*   The “Two Hot Tamales” — Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Miliken — have worked to end hunger with Share Our Strength.

*   Speaking of Taste of a Nation LA, it also benefits the Share Our Strength cause, and it’s got a huge list of local restaurant sponsors. At the very top: Rising chef Ben Ford of local favorite Ford’s Filling Station. He’s the chair this year. And this is a real fundraiser, not just a foodie event with a bit of a charity attached. Since 1988, Taste of a Nation events, the nation’s largest culinary fundraising events, have raised over $70 million. And 100 percent of ticket sales to Taste events go toward anti-hunger, anti-poverty efforts.

*   And speaking of Ford, his commitment to ending hunger doesn’t end with Taste of a Nation LA. Ford also supports the local Farragut School Garden.  He’s helped them secure seed, dirt and other essentials. You can help Ford support the garden, too; when you pay the check at Ford’s restaurant you can also make a donation to the Farragut School Garden.